Six families and an officer
In the dry season of 1961 six Enugu families and a retired cavalry officer, remembered by everyone simply as the Major, marked out a ground on open land at Independence Layout. They had eight ponies between them and a set of mallets ordered from the north.
The first cup
The following February the members bought a silver cup by subscription and named it after the street where most of them lived. The Hartwell Cup has been played every February since, except for the years when it could not be.
They had eight ponies between them and a set of mallets ordered from the north.
The brick yard and the verandah
The stables came in 1964 and the clubhouse verandah in 1968. Both are still in daily use, and the verandah is still where most club decisions are made, usually over tea.
The people
Over sixty-five years the club has had eleven presidents, four head grooms and one cook whose pepper soup is still discussed. The honours board in the Long Room lists every winner of the cup in gold leaf.
Sixty-five seasons on
This season we mark the anniversary with an archive exhibition in the Long Room, opening on the day of the final. Members with old photographs are asked to lend them.